34 BIRMINGHAM MAIL TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015

TRAVEL

Established in 1947, the Edinburgh International Festival sees the citys population escalate from 400,000 to a million

PRICES at The Knight Residence start from around 80 per night for a one-bedroom City studio apartment.

The two bedroom City apartments start from around 110 per night, though prices can vary considerably depending on the day and month.

Visit www.theknightresidence.co.uk for more information.

PAPAP UAUA L BAKERsamples the delights of the Scottish capital on a bright winter weekend away

TAKING a trip to Scotland in winter might not sound like every travellers dream, but if you catch the weather

just right, it can be a beautiful way to spend the weekend.So it was when my girlfriend

and I journeyed to the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, recently, under clear skies and low winter sunshine.Always fans of that wild and

beautiful land to the north of Englands borders, this was a rst visit for us since last summers narrow No vote saw Scotland remain part of the United Kingdom. Eager to see if the feel and

hospitality of this country had changed at all since the historic referendum we journeyed out early on Saturday morning up through mist-clouded Cumbria and into Scotland where snow was still lying fresh on the hills.A blue sky with perfectly-crisp A blue sky with perfectly-crisp A

winter weather greeted our arrival in Edinburgh and would stay throughout the weekend. We were staying at e Knight

Residence on Lauriston Street, in Edinburghs historic Old Town with its higgledy-piggledy array of intertwined streets that all seem to lead eventually to the base of the citys famous castle.Its an apart-hotel and oers guests

the opportunity to stay in a luxury furnished apartment plus many of the benets of a hotel. So you get a daily concierge service from 7am until 11pm, coupled with your own private at in which to luxuriate during your stay.e complex has a private car park

and 28 serviced apartments with one, two or three-bed options. We stayed in an extremely comfortable spacious two-bedroom City apartment.Having an apartment to call home

for the weekend, rather than just a hotel room, gives you the freedom to relax and tailor your time in Edinburgh more easily.e city is certainly picturesque

and well-suited for those who like strolling the streets and seeing what surprising and fascinating buildings, sights and people are just around the next corner.

We sampled bualo burgers from a farmers market, strolled through graveyards where JK Rowling picked K Rowling picked Kup some of the more unusual names for her Harry Potter characters, and mingled with tourists from around the world taking photos of themselves in the courtyard, atop the castles volcanic hill.Edinburgh Castle is also the start

of the Royal Mile, a wonderfully charming high street-like route which runs from old fortress along to Holyrood Palace, about a mile away. Here the tourists throng to the strain of bagpipes, checking out the many tartan shops, whisky stores and street performers along the way.e Mile is no quieter at night

when ghost tours criss-cross the narrow lanes where grave robbers Burke and Hare once sold their wares, while merrymakers hop from pub to bar along the historic street.During our stay we dined both on

the Royal Mile and in an area known as e Grassmarket. e Mile has all manner of restaurants, from Asian and Mexican to Scottish cuisine, and a variety of ne dining options.e Grassmarket is more caf-

centric, with little Italian restaurants and some great places to stop for breakfast, brunch or coee and cake.

Price-wise, the eateries on the Mile are much more expensive, though the quality is good. e Grassmarket is less pricey but no less tasty and the atmosphere bubbly.If youre more interested in the

pub culture, there are inns and ale-houses on pretty much every street. We decamped to an ale house half-way down the Mile called e Mitre, where we sampled a pint of Heavy a delicious ruby-coloured Scottish ale before being recom-mended to seek out a delicious local speciality heather-honey beer, only available in a rough-and-ready establishment called Bannermans. You just cant beat local knowledge.If you visit Edinburgh, make

sure theres loads of space on your camera because youll constantly be snapping away. e city seems to be laid out on a number of levels so there are often things to look at both above your head and below your feet. Couple this with its sense of history and stunning architecture and you have a place that is superb for photography.On our second day we ventured

out of town to climb Arthurs Seat. e volcanic peak is about a mile east of Edinburgh Castle and, at 822ft high, oers superb views across the

city and over to nearby Leith and the Forth estuary beyond. Its well worth the climb.Even the steep route we took was

not too much of a struggle thanks to a stepped and well-travelled pathway. However, the summit can be more-easily reached via a car park and short climb perfect for families with children.Our apartment at e Knight

Residence was certainly a welcoming place to return to after a busy days sightseeing. Quiet, warm and cosy with ve-star luxury across every room little wonder it was named Best Hotel in the UK by online travel K by online travel Kcompany Expedia in 2013.

e spacious and inviting lounge had a big widescreen TV (the bedrooms have TVs as well), a Blu-Ray player and a music system which was wired into the bathroom too, in case you want sounds while you bathe.eres also a dining area and a

separate kitchen with washer/dryer, fridge, microwave and full-size oven. e chance to self-cater could make e Knight Residence particularly appealing to families and business visitors. eres even a welcome pack left in the kitchen for you with teas, coee, milk, cereals, bread, jams and orange juice and that did us ne for the weekend.When you add in the friendly and

knowledgeable concierge sta, there really wasnt anything we could fault about our accommodation.If you get the weather, Edinburgh

is absolutely perfect city-break material. And, even if the rains do come,

there are galleries, theatres and exhibitions galore that we didnt have time for.And anyway, with accommodation

as pleasant as ours, we could have just stayed indoors and still had asuperb weekend.

Perfect, Knight and day

NEED TO KNOW

A lounge area in one of the furnished apartments at The Knight Residence, Edinburgh

Twilight settles over Edinburgh and, below, the Waverley Gardens